Rowan Griffiths

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II marked the end of the longest reign of any British monarch at 70 years and 214 days. It was striking that the honour to pull the Queen on her final journey fell to 142 sailors from the Royal Navy. The simplicity of their uniform in contrast to a coffin laden with the imperial crown, orb and sceptre encapsulated a day of spectacle, duty and unity.

'Thank you, Thank you everyone' were the last words of Dawn Voice-Cooper as the barbitates entered her blood stream and within minutes she had passed away. The Daily Mirror was invited by Dawn to document her final 24 hours before she was assisted in her wish to die at a clinic in Switzerland. Despite still being mobile Dawn suffered with a range of health issues and travelled to the clinic earlier than she had wished for fear of not being well enough to travel from the UK. The Daily Mirror travelled to the Donbas region of Ukraine in late 2021 to document the lives of troops living in World War I style trenches as tensions heightened with Russia. Despite existing in snow covered trenches no more than 100m from Russian separatists the Ukrainian troops young and old remained defiant. It was this show of spirit amongst troops and citizens alike that has ultimately become the defining feature of Putin's invasion.